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Eco-Spirituality in Environmental Action

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Eco-Spirituality in Environmental Action Eco-Spirituality in Environmental Action Studying Dark Green Religion in the German Energy Transition Draft Version Article published in: Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 12(1):34-54, March 2018. DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.33915 Author: Jens Koehrsen, Center for Religion, Economy and PoliticsUniversity of Basel, Switzerland Address: Jens Köhrsen, University Basel, Faculty of Theology, Nadelberg 10 4051 Basel, Switzerland. Email: [email protected] Abstract There is a rising debate about the religious dimensions of environmentalism. A prominent approach to this phenomenon is Bron Taylor’s Dark Green Religion. Taylor proposes that Dark Green Religion is a globally growing phenomenon which involves ‘para-religious’ perceptions and feelings towards nature. Followers of Dark Green Religion would experience feelings of connectedness to nature, consider it to be sacred and worthy of reverent care, and reject anthropocentrism. I discuss Taylor’s argument in the light of a study on an urban energy transition process in Northern Germany. Interviewing actors strongly participating in this process, I find some evidence for features of Dark Green Religion while also revealing their ongoing anthropocentric orientations. The findings suggest a need for more in-depth studies to improve our understanding of eco-religious worldviews among environmentally engaged actors and their impact on sustainability transitions. Keywords: energy transition, dark green religion, Ecospirituality, worldviews, forerunners, sustainability, cities, urban low carbon transition, Germany, anthropocentrism Introduction Dark Green Religion is, according to Bron Taylor, a globally growing phenomenon which involves strong feelings of attachment to nature and a perception of nature as sacred (Taylor 2004; Taylor 2008; Taylor 2010). Perceiving nature as sacred and feeling attached to it, followers of Dark Green Religion regard nature as having a value in itself—independent of its value for human beings—and therefore experience a need to protect it against harmful human interventions. Given that these eco-religious worldviews and feelings are likely to provoke pro- environmental engagement, Dark Green Religion may also play a role in the ongoing sustainability transitions of Western societies: wide-ranging social transformation processes toward more sustainable modes of supply, consumption, and production (Markard, Raven and Truffer 2012). Crucial for these processes are energy transitions which seek to establish more sustainable, low-carbon energy systems. Particularly among the intrinsically driven pioneers in these processes, eco-religious worldviews and feelings may play an important role in spurring their engagement. However, there are, so far, few empirical, in-depth studies on Dark Green Religion among leading actors engaging in energy transitions. Against this background, this article studies whether and in what way features of Dark Green Religion may become manifest among actors strongly engaging in the energy transition process of the Northern German city of Emden. The study focuses on ‘non-religious’ actors: organizations and individuals that are not primarily related with the religious sphere via their professional occupations. While religious actors include, for instance, churches and pastors, ‘non-religious’ actors include politicians, businesses, and researchers. Labeling these actors as ‘non-religious’ only refers to their primary sectoral background and does not imply that they abstain from relating to religious worldviews or values. This study has selected actors that are primarily related to ‘non-religious’ social spheres and work for the local energy transition in Emden based upon intrinsic motivations. Among the selected actors, the study finds some evidence for features of Dark Green Religion while also revealing ongoing anthropocentric orientations as well as hesitations to openly communicate eco-religious worldviews and feelings among peers, indicating a need for further research into the extent and influence of Dark Green Religion among environmentally-engaged actors. From Religion and Ecology to Dark Green Religion Taylor’s arguments are embedded in a wider academic debate on religion and ecology. This debate has particularly stressed the role of traditional forms of religion (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism) for addressing environmental challenges. Some of the contributions to this debate see a strong potential for religion in facilitating societal transformations toward more environmental sustainability and suppose a ‘greening’ process within traditional religions that leads to higher environmental awareness (Clugston and Holt 2012; Gottlieb 2008; Kimmins 1993; Rasmussen 2011; Rolston III 2006; Tucker 2006; Tucker 2008). In particular, they highlight the ability of traditional religions to disseminate pro-environmental values and worldviews--a function that is regarded as crucial for the successful sustainability transitions and that other social spheres such as science and politics cannot assume (Bergmann 2009; Gardner 2003; Tucker 2006:413-414, 416). However, there is lack of empirical research within the religion and ecology debate to underpin these claims. Moreover, the religion and ecology debate has not sufficiently taken into account the potential of alternative, non-traditional forms of religion to shape the environmental attitudes of their ‘adherents’ and thereby fulfil the aforementioned value-dissemination role. While most of the contributions in the religion and ecology debate focus on traditional forms of religion, the concept of Dark Green Religion provides an alternative perspective on the relationship between religion and ecology by exploring the underlying religious dimensions of environmentalism. Aside from Taylor, other scholars have highlighted this dimension of environmental worldviews and concepts related to it (e.g. sustainability) (Hedlund-de Witt 2013; Johnston 2014; Nelson 2012; Witt 2016). However, this article focuses specifically on Taylor’s elaborations, as they increasingly mark the debates on religion and ecology and provide a useful starting point for empirical explorations. Taylor suggests that a new world religion is spreading: Dark Green Religion. Followers of this emerging religion perceive nature as sacred – and therefore worth protecting – and feel strongly connected to it. These perceptions and feelings lead to a new ethic of kinship with nature. Taylor defines this phenomenon as follows: By dark green religion, I mean religion that considers nature to be sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and worthy of reverent care. Dark green religion considers nonhuman species to have worth, regardless of their usefulness to human beings. Such religion expresses and promotes an ethics of kinship between human beings and other life forms. (Taylor 2008:89) Taylor distinguishes between different subtypes of Dark Green Religion: spiritual animism, naturalistic animism, gaian spirituality, gaian naturalism (Taylor 2010:14–41). Despite their differences, they share some general features. Apart from the abovementioned characteristics – perception of nature as sacred and feelings of belonging to nature – adherents of this religion attribute an intrinsic value to nature that is independent of its value for human beings. Thereby, they abstain from an anthropocentric worldview and believe that, regardless of its services and benefits for human beings, nature has value in itself. This implies an alternative ethic toward nature which Taylor describes as an ethic of kinship with non-human life, transcending the boundaries of humanity and including the well-being of the non-human world into its concerns. Taylor locates most of the followers of this religion within the ‘environmental milieu’. He defines this milieu as ‘contexts in which environmentally concerned officials, scientists, activists, and other citizens connect with and reciprocally influence one another’ (Taylor 2010:13–14). The notion of the ‘environmental milieu’ draws upon the concept of the ‘cultic milieu‘ (Campbell 1972): these milieus consist of groups of individuals that share similar ideas and are open to the exchange of ideas within these communities while seeking to distinguish themselves from mainstream culture. The exchange of ideas among followers of Dark Green Religion takes places within a ‘global environmental milieu’, meaning the ideas spread across the boundaries of continents and nations. Even though they may use religious vocabulary when referring to nature, most people who fit the Dark Green Religion definition would not self-describe as religious and are sometimes even hostile to what they regard as religion (Taylor 2010:124). Therefore, by their social environment as well as by most academic observers, they are likely to be regarded as non-religious actors that primarily relate to areas of social life other than ‘religion’ (such as politics or civil society). Besides existing in these growing social networks in which these non- religious actors move, Dark Green Religion also spreads via mass media. Taylor illustrates this for different types of media such as institutional reports, art works, theatrical plays, movies, and books, including ‘writings in science, philosophy, fiction, and poetry’(Taylor 2010:113) . An important channel for the dissemination of these eco-religious worldviews and ethics are popular movies such as ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Little Mermaid’, and ‘Avatar’ (Fritz 2012; Taylor 2013). Along with mass-media,
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